Post by : Badri Ariffin

Amazon.com Inc. has initiated legal proceedings against Perplexity AI Inc., saying the startup’s AI assistant Comet placed orders on Amazon without properly informing the retailer. The complaint, lodged in federal court in San Francisco, accuses Perplexity of computer fraud and breaching Amazon’s terms of service.

The suit follows a cease-and-desist letter Amazon sent last week after alleging Perplexity circumvented safeguards and continued to let Comet act as an automated shopping intermediary. Amazon says the practice undermines the shopping experience and creates privacy and security concerns for customers.

Perplexity, which the market values at about $20 billion, pushed back by labeling Amazon a “bully” and defending users’ ability to pick AI assistants for purchases. The company insists Comet operates only on explicit user prompts and does not scrape or train on Amazon’s data.

The dispute feeds into a wider discussion over agentic AI — systems that carry out real-world online tasks like buying items, composing messages or researching information rather than merely producing text. Major players including OpenAI, Google and Amazon are all exploring similar agent capabilities, while legal boundaries remain unsettled.

Amazon highlights its own AI shopping features, such as “Buy For Me” and “Rufus,” and emphasizes that third-party developers must comply with platform rules. Legal experts say the outcome could create significant precedent for how autonomous agents are permitted to act on services run by others.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas argues AI agents should be afforded the same privileges as human users when acting on someone’s behalf, framing the case around consumer choice. Amazon counters that maintaining a secure, consistent shopping environment is essential to protect customers and the integrity of its advertising business.

Technology companies, regulators and startups are watching the litigation closely because its resolution could influence the design and governance of AI-driven online services.

#Global